James Macpherson's Poems of Ossian, said to be translations from the Gaelic of a third-century bard, caused a sensation on their first appearance in the early 1760s. Contrary to the impression often conveyed in literary histories, enthusiasm for the poetry of the 'Homer of the North' cannot be dismissed as a short-lived fad, for its appeal lasted a century or more, both at home and abroad. There is hardly a major Romantic poet on whom it failed to make a significant impact. In the words of Sir Walter Scott, it succeeded in "giving a new tone ot poetry throughout all Europe" and its influence...
James Macpherson's Poems of Ossian, said to be translations from the Gaelic of a third-century bard, caused a sensation on their first appearance in t...
The intellectual scope and cultural impact of British writers cannot be assessed without reference to their European fortunes. This collection of 20 essays, prepared by an international team of scholars, critics and translators, records the ways in which Macpherson's Ossian has been received, translated and published in different areas of Europe. The Ossian poems caused a sensation on their first appearance in the 1760s. Indeed, there is hardly a major Romantic poet on whom they failed to make a significant impression. The essays brought together in this volume explore the reception of...
The intellectual scope and cultural impact of British writers cannot be assessed without reference to their European fortunes. This collection of 2...
The aim of this book is to revisit Ossian, whilst broadening the scope of oral literature and translation to embrace cultural contexts outside of Europe. Epics, ballads, prose tales, ritual and lyric songs, as genres, existed orally before writing was invented. Serious debate about them, at least in modern Western culture, may be said to have begun with James Macpherson and Thomas Percy. Considering the ongoing debate on orality and authenticity in the case of Ossian, this book includes ground-breaking, previously published essays which provide essential information relating to orality,...
The aim of this book is to revisit Ossian, whilst broadening the scope of oral literature and translation to embrace cultural contexts outside of Euro...
